Marcel Jobin wowed audiences at the 1976 Olympics and almost five decades later, his passion for running, which earned him the label “crazy” in his early days, never stopped. “I’ll stop when I’m dead!” says the 81-year-old with a laugh.
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“It’s a bit like asking someone when they’ll stop eating!” he adds. It would be a good death to die in competition…”
In competition, yes, because even 47 years after these Games, where the Montreal public celebrated him as champion despite his 23rd place, Mr. Jobin continues to travel the world to compete with the best in his age group.
Marcel Jobin finished 23rd at the 1976 Montreal Games. Archive photo
“For a little old man of 81, I’m doing pretty well,” says Mr. Jobin. I tell my doctor that I feel a little stiff when I stand up, but he tells me that’s normal, that there aren’t many people my age who don’t feel stiff when they stand up. The wind. »
Arrested by police
Marcel Jobin will also be at the World Masters Athletics Championships in August 2024 in Sweden, where he will compete in three disciplines: the 5, 10 and 20 kilometer run.
A major event that will bring together almost 8,000 participants over the age of 35, including some proud centenarians.
That’s what motivates the venerable hiker to continue his training, more than 60 years after he began racking up the miles on the streets of Shawinigan.
Back then – 1958 – physical activity was nowhere near as popular as it is today, with some calling it “mad man in pajamas.”
“I ran before I went to school, I was 16. The police have already arrested me. People didn’t believe that! I was a bit avant-garde,” smiles Mr. Jobin.
Marcel Jobin at the Ontario Masters Championships, Summer 2023. Photo provided by Marcel Jobin Sports Academy
His passion saved him
But Marcel Jobin is no longer crazy today. He realizes this himself when he sees runners aged 70, 75 or 80 running past his street in his house in Saint-Boniface.
In addition, this passion for training has helped him greatly in his recovery from a serious injury, a tear in a hamstring tendon that he suffered two years ago, and then a pulmonary embolism that he suffered last year after he was infected with COVID-19.
“When I had my pulmonary embolism, I had a nuclear scan. The specialist told me that my lungs were 40% functional and that they would keep me in the hospital. So they sent me to the emergency room,” he explains.
“The doctor told me, ‘Normally, at your age, we would have moved you up a floor and put you on a ventilator. We wouldn’t have let you go. But given your physical condition, go home and take medication.’ six months.” »
After a month, Mr. Jobin had already recovered, much to the surprise of the hospital staff. And since then he has participated in numerous competitions, especially in preparation with his coach Michel Parent, especially for these famous World Championships.
In August he was in Saint-Tite, then in early September in Rimouski. He will travel to Ottawa in a few days.
He is then expected to fly to Mexico before heading to Florida for training camp early next year.
A lesson in perseverance
Because it wasn’t these physical problems, as serious as they were, that could stop the unstoppable athlete, who also took part in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
Marcel Jobin has seen others. His career is in itself a lesson in perseverance.
“I had many opportunities to quit,” he remembers. It started in Munich in 1972 when I was selected and in the end athletes were taken off the team. »
There were also those Olympic Games in Moscow, four years after Montreal, where Mr. Jobin would have been at the peak of his art, but which were boycotted by Western countries in the context of the Cold War.
“I started in 1958, in those years all the best, whether international, Canadian or Quebecer, spoke English. I wanted to show that a little French Canadian is capable of something. »
And there was this doctor who, after a serious knee injury in 1965, warned the walker: “Jobin, if you keep walking like this when you’re 30, you’ll be in a wheelchair!” »
Marcel Jobin during the Marcel Jobin Half Marathon in 2021. Photo provided by Marcel Jobin Sports Academy
The legs are initially stiff
Today we have to admit that the doctor was wrong.
Marcel Jobin still trains six days a week. He currently runs 30 kilometers a week, but hopes to gradually increase the distance over the coming months.
“I have a route, one of which is 20 km long, where I go from Saint-Boniface to Shawinigan, eat Putin or a sub. I wait 10-15 minutes and leave. I did that all last summer,” emphasizes Mr. Jobin, who does not impose a strict diet, even if he “gets annoyed by his trainer and his wife when he drinks a beer or two.” »
The octogenarian doesn’t believe he would still have the passion for training without the competition. When he stands at the starting line, no matter where he is in the world, he still has “stiff legs.”
Even if his friends tell him to have fun on the athletics track: “When the firecrackers go off, I don’t have any fun!” explains Marcel Jobin.
“For me it is motivation to break records, to strive for medals. I always want to break records,” he continues.
And of course for a long time to come.
“I will be 82 years old. Maybe I’ll stop at 83 and then come back at 85. […] Because my passion also lies in staying healthy and showing people that it is important to move. »
Sporty walking, by no means a short walk
- Athletic walking, sometimes called “brisk walking,” was first included in the Olympics in 1908. After disappearing for a few years, it was reintroduced in 1952 for men and in 1992 for women.
- This is a discipline that is part of athletics and is evaluated because the participants:
- The running competition takes place indoors or outdoors over distances between 3000 meters and 50 km. Some enthusiasts now indulge in ultra-sporty hiking (150 to 450 km).
- In 1995, the Russian Mikhail Shchennikov achieved an average speed of more than 16.5 km/h over 5000 m.
Sources: Olympic Games website, Courir Québec
Marcel Jobin
- Born January 3, 1942 in Parent, Mauricie (81 years old)
- Lives in Saint-Boniface-de-Shawinigan
- Participation in the Montreal Games 20km run (23rd), the Los Angeles Games 20km run (21st) and the Los Angeles 50km run (did not finish)
- Was Canadian 20 km champion 14 times between 1969 and 1984
- Appointed Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 1991
- Appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1992